Book reviews

Plant Pathogens and the Worldwide Movement ofSeeds. D. C. McGee (ed.). 23 × 15 cm, 109 pp. St. Paul,MN, USA: The American Phytopathological Society[HTTP://www.scisoc.org/apspress], 1997. $35. ISBN0-89054-185-X (paperback).

This short book is the outcome of the eponymoussymposium held in New Mexico as part of the annualmeeting of the American Phytopathological Society.Marlene Diekmann, then working for the InternationalPlant Genetic Resources Institute, provides a helpfuloverview of activities at the International AgriculturalResearch Centres concerning the control of pathogens ingermplasm, and J. Wesseling describes government andvegetable seed industry co-operation in the Netherlands.These apart, the authors are all from the USA.

The individual chapters are too brief to provide acomprehensive picture of global seed movement andpathogens, so the main question I asked myself waswhether the book provided a good introduction to thistopic. My answer is a qualified ‘yes’. A few additionalpieces of information would have made this more than acollection of symposium papers. I would have like tohave seen a more comprehensive list of references andperhaps details of how to contact the International SeedTesting Association (ISTA) and related bodies in theUSA. A list of relevant websites would have done muchto overcome gaps in information about pathogenmovement and seed regulations.

The ‘worldwide’ perspective provided is largely thatof the USA looking outward. This emerges most tellinglyin the examples of pathogens quoted. Pseudomonassyringae pv. glycinae, the cause of soybean bacterialblight, is remarked upon in three separate chapters.M. Condon takes the European Union to task for unfairregulations, in a spirited defence of the efforts of US seedcompanies to meet EU requirements. Other examplesnoted in the book highlight the failure of countries toreach the high standard of seed testing apparentlypractised in the USA.

The efforts of ISTA to standardize seed health testmethods are noted but progress is deemed to be slow.The tone of several authors was, I felt, rather aggressiveon this topic, perhaps unconsciously reflecting a tradeand commerce perspective rather than that of theindividual plant pathologists. I would have appreciatedseeing more positive and constructive statements abouthow to tackle the difficulties in raising standards,particularly in developing countries. Indeed, I was leftwondering to what extent the authors understood theeveryday problems facing plant pathologists elsewhere,

particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. Better supportfor plant pathologists in developing countries would domuch to improve standards of seed health testing andhelp to tackle instances where special interests seek toexploit spurious quarantine issues for political andcommercial gain. I am not suggesting, of course, thatthe EU or the USA would ever seek to adopt such anapproach.

As a general guide to movement of pathogens in seeds,this book is a useful introduction. It has a limited use as apractical guide, though this is not the stated aim of thebook.

Compendium of Conifer Diseases. E. M. Hanse andK. J. Lewis (eds). 28 × 21 cm, 101 pp. St. Paul, MN,USA: The American Phytopathological Society [HTTP://www.scisoc.org/apspress], 1997. $37. ISBN 0-89054-183-3 (soft cover).

At last! An up-to-date account of conifer diseases fromaround the world, and, furthermore, published by theAPS. I have frequently remarked upon the narrow viewof the world often shown by North American publica-tions, so it is a particular pleasure to congratulate DrsHansen and Lewis for adopting a global perspective.Sadly, the depth of knowledge on conifer diseases in Asiaand Africa is but a fraction of that from the USA andEurope, but it is good to have authoritative accountsfrom both continents.

The importance of conifers to the global forestryindustry cannot be overstated. Together with theeucalypts (no disease book yet how about it APS?),they provide 70% of the forest plantation area aroundthe world. It is worthwhile remembering that thehealth of conifer plantations is as important to woodproduction as it is to the conservation of natural forests.

The editors concentrate on conifers as forest trees andserve up an enticing array of mainly fungal diseasesaffecting everything from western white pine in westernOregon to Austrocedrus chilensis in Argentina andChile. It is curious to note in passing that pines arerelatively unaffected outside the nursery by bacteria,viruses and nematodes. (The exception to the latter isthe spectacular effects of the pine wilt nematode,Bursaphelencus xylophilus.)

The bulk of the book consists of concise andinformative accounts on individual diseases. There is ahelpful section on abiotic diseases, though this couldhave benefited from subheadings to split up the large

Plant Pathology (2000) 49, 165–169

Q 2000 BSPP 165

blocks of text. Decline diseases are also included andI was particularly pleased to see the section on diseasesin the forest, providing a global overview fromFennoscandia to Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The editors have done a sterling job in assembling theefforts of over 50 authors and I congratulate them ontheir efforts. I was a tad disappointed, however, by thehost index provided at the end of the book and wouldlike this to have been opened out. The construction ofthe index does appear to be a particularly weak point ofmany of the books I see.

The postage-sized colour photographs broughttogether in the centre of the book illustrate symptomswell in close-up but fail, sometimes lamentably, in thescenic shots. The photo of Austrocedrus decline isperhaps the worst example (probably taken in NahelHue National Park but noted only as ‘Argentina’), butthis is really a minor quibble. Here at last is the sort ofreference book that forest pathologists around the worldcan use – and has been missing for too long.

E. Boa

Phytochemical Signals and Plant–Microbe Interac-tions. Recent Advances in Phytochemistry, Vol. 32.J. T. Romeo, K. R. Downum and R. Verpoorte (eds).23 ×15 cm, 254 pp. New York, USA: Plenum Press[HTTP://www.plenum.com], 1998. $95. ISBN 0-306-45917-5 (hardback).

A quick glance revealed few photographs and anabundance of chemical symbols and structures ofcompounds. Not my idea of a bedtime read, but thereare nuggets to be gleaned from the 12 chaptersassembled from a meeting held in 1997 in the Nether-lands. These range, to quote a few, from saponins andplant defence (Osbourn et al.), through tree–fungusinteractions (Koide et al.) and salicylic acid and plantdisease resistance (Klessig et al.) to the wound anddefence responses in cassava in relation to postharvestdeterioration.

The book is well laid out and each chapter isaccompanied by a comprehensive list of references. Acursory check of several chapters suggests a commend-able uniformity of style and clarity. Converting con-ference enthusiasm into an academic book is not an easytask and the editors have done well in producing thebook so promptly. This rapid transition enhances thevalue of the book in a field where new advances canoccur in a short period of time.

When unfamiliar with the subject matter of a book,I head for the index. How could I use this book tolearn more about phytochemical signals? Sadly, I wasprovided with few clues on how to weave my waythrough the book. General topics were liberally referredto whilst specialist terms were given a single range ofpages: the index suggested I look up pages 78–87 forGDIMBOA (no relation). Perhaps publishers could be

encouraged to spend more effort on constructingindexes.

One final minor point: could we have e-mail addressesafter authors’ physical addresses? Who writes lettersthese days? At US$95 this is not an automatic purchasefor a postgraduate student but one that a university orresearch institute library would want to have.

E. Boa

Brassinosteroids, a New Class of Plant Hormones.V. A. Khripach, V. N. Zhabinskii and A. E. de Groot.23 × 15 cm, 456 pp. San Diego, USA: Academic Press[HTTP://www.apnet.com], 1999. $85. ISBN 0-12-406360-8(hardback).

Do plant pathologists need to know about brassino-steroids? At first glance the answer seems to be no: thereis only a brief mention of ‘resistance to diseases’, frompages 277–284. However, the authors note thatbrassinosteroids can enhance plant resistance to diseasesthough they also state that research in this area has onlyrecently begun. Let us return to the compoundsthemselves, first discovered in 1979 by Americanscientists, and the first plant steroids to have confirmedhormonal activity. This book describes their structure,spectral properties, biosynthesis and physiologicalmode, to name but a few of the chapter topics.

I doubt that this book will be of much immediaterelevance to plant pathologists but for those intrigued byplant resistance and of a molecular bent, this seems theobvious place to start. I was intrigued in passing to notethat the first two authors are from Belarus. They andtheir Dutch coauthor have provided an abundance ofchemical structures throughout the book and anextensive reference list at the very end. I mentallydeducted points for the abbreviated journal titles. I couldnot make head nor tail of publication sources such as‘Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho JP 06 25 281 [94, 25,281][C.A. 120, 317801]’.

The text is set out with large line spaces and this hasprobably increased the total number of pages by about15%, at a rough guess. That said, the three authors havebrought together a massive amount of information in abook that must provide a more-than-useful summary onthis obviously intriguing group of plant hormones.

E. Boa

Mycotoxins in Agriculture and Food Safety. K. K. Sinhaand D. Bhatnagar (eds). 15·5×23·4 cm, 520 pp. NewYork, USA: Marcel Dekker [HTTP://www.dekker.com],1998. $175. ISBN 0824701925 (hardback).

The editors of this book have put together contributionsfrom an impressive international group of authors,which gives a broad scope to the coverage of this

Book reviews166

Q 2000 BSPP Plant Pathology (2000) 49, 165–169

increasingly important field. There are sections onsampling and analysis for mycotoxins in crops, foodsand feeds, toxicity, and aspects relating to the control ofmycotoxins. The final chapters relate to regulatoryaspects in the US and internationally (WHO guidelines)and there are interesting contributions on risk assess-ment and risk management for mycotoxins. The level ofdetail in many chapters is impressive, though there aresome areas where more could have been included.Ochratoxins do not receive much attention, even ifindividual contributors do say they are a majormetabolite found in cereals and other foods.

The chapters on Fusarium and Alternaria as myco-toxin producers give in-depth coverage of the role ofthese genera and other chapters consider evidencerelating to mechanisms of contamination in the field.The book is attractively produced, with clear and helpfuldiagrams and figures, and each chapter has an extensivereference list that would be very helpful to anyonewanting to explore the literature further. As anintroduction to mycotoxins, the level of detail isprobably excessive and the patchy coverage a drawbackfor a reader needing an overview. Overall, this bookwould serve as a useful reference for anyone workingwith mycotoxins and food security. The high pricesuggests this is more a library acquisition than a personalpurchase.

B. Unsworth

Agrobiodiversity: Characterization, Utilization andManagement. D. Wood and J. M. Lenne (eds).15 ×23 cm, 400 pp. Wallingford, UK: CAB International[HTTP://www.cabi.org], 1999. £55. ISBN 085199-265-X(hardback).

This excellent and comprehensive book, edited by DavidWood and Jill Lenne, comprises 18 chapters by 29contributors from institutions around the world. Thebook deals specifically with agrobiodiversity, a topic thatthe editors explain has not been the subject of thoroughdiscussion previously. This book rightly emphasizes theutility of key elements of biodiversity and redresses theimbalance between sweeping views of all species and amuch tighter and more practical consideration ofagricultural issues.

The first chapter introduces the subject and gives anoutline of the book’s scope and organization. From hereon, the reader is led through a series of topics onagrobiodiversity: its characteristics, how to measure it,the relationship to crops, animals, pathogens andinsects, the effects of human practices on plant breeding,tillage, and how agrobiodiversity is influenced bypest and seed management. The closing chapterspropose solutions on how to conserve agrobiodiversityinvolving not only gene banks but also through on-farmresources and government regulations. Chapter 17draws a parallel between natural biodiversity and

agrobiodiversity. Chapter 18, the final one, presents asummary of the main issues discussed in the book. Itsuggests the next steps to take, based on lessons learntfrom the past and the challenges of the future,particularly that of increasing food production.

Some minor changes could have improved the book’spresentation. It would be good to have more figures; asubject as rich as plant and animal diversity deservesmore illustrations, even at the risk of raising costs. Andit would help if all the chapters had a summary orconcluding remarks at the end, as some of them alreadyhave.

A chapter dealing with forage crops is lacking; theyare an important component of agriculture, essential foranimal production. The absence of any Latin Americancontributor is a drawback; there is at least one largecentre for genetic resources research in the region notrepresented, and a report on the status of agrobio-diversity in this part of the world would have enrichedthe book. Another aspect that is missing, which is brieflymentioned in chapters 10 and 18, is the possible impactof genetically modified organisms on biodiversity.Although thoroughly discussed in other publications, Iwould have liked to see further discussion in such animportant book.

In conclusion, this book should be read and consultedby researchers, graduate students, lecturers and policy-makers involved with agriculture, ecology or geneticresources. It is good value for money and should beconsidered an essential purchase for libraries.

M. T. Schifino-Wittmann

Physiology and Biochemistry of Free-Living andPlant Parasitic Nematodes. R. N. Perry and D. J.Wright (eds). 17 × 24 cm, 448 pp. Wallingford, UK: CABI[HTTP://www.cabi.org], 1998. £65. ISBN 085199-231-5(hardback).

Long ago, when I was a graduate student beginningmy studies, I read a book entitled The Organizationof Nematodes, edited by the late Neil Croll (1976). Itwas a comprehensive look at nematode physiology,biochemistry and behaviour, and it had a profoundimpact on my interest in these fascinating organisms.During this time period, several other excellent bookswere published on the same subject, including TheStructure of Nematodes by Alan Bird (1971, beautifullyupdated in 1991) and Physiology of Nematodes by Lee& Atkinson (1977).

However, since then relatively few texts have beenpublished addressing nematode cellular biology. This isironic, because the best understood and most thoroughlyexplored animal is the free-living nematode, Caenor-habditis elegans, for which the genome sequence wascompleted late last year. Several excellent volumes havebeen published on C. elegans, concerned primarily withdevelopmentand organization, genetics and methodology.

Book reviews 167

Q 2000 BSPP Plant Pathology (2000) 49, 165–169

This rather long preamble brings me to the subject ofthis latest review, which is a superb contribution to boththe experimental nematologist and the classroominstructor. Drawing heavily from both the C. elegansliterature and the advances that have been made onplant-nematodes during the past 20 years, the book is anextremely readable and useful update on physiology,biochemistry and behaviour. A particularly strikingobservation from reading this text is how little wereally know about the basic cell biology of parasiticnematodes.

The authors of individual chapters have done anexcellent job in pulling together pertinent literature onparasites (in most cases), but much of the primaryinformation has come from the study of free-livingnematodes. Nowhere is this more clearly revealed thanin the chapter ‘Developmental Biology’. The authors ofthis chapter rightly state in the beginning that they mustrely heavily on C. elegans to discuss development. Theygo on to do a good job of providing a capsule summaryof the vast body of knowledge available on thisnematode. One other chapter that deserves special noteis by Atkinson et al. on ‘Engineering Resistance to Plant-parasitic Nematodes’. The authors have written a lucidand compelling account of this rapidly evolving area,and have admirably covered all recent advances.

All nematologists interested in transgenic plantresistance should find this contribution illuminatingand timely. As a whole, this book is a must-read forbeginning graduate students, scientists coming into thefield from another discipline, and those of us who justneed to catch up. It is at once wonderful to see how farwe have come and inspiring to see how far yet we have togo. I believe Neil Croll would be proud.

References

Bird AF, Bird J, 1991. The Structure of Nematodes. 2nd edn.San Diego, CA, USA: Academic Press.

Croll NA, eds, 1976. The Organization of Nematodes.London, UK: Academic Press.

Bird AF, ed., 1971. The Structure of Nematodes. New York,NY, USA: Academic Press.

Lee DL, Atkinson HJ, 1977. Physiology of Nematodes. 2ndedn. New York, NY, USA: Columbia University Press.

C. Opperman

The Pathology of Food and Pasture Legumes. D. J.Allen and J. M. Lenne (eds). 15 ×23 cm, 768 pp. UK,Wallingford, CAB International [HTTP://www.cabi.org],1997. £95, US$175. ISBN 0851991661 (hardback).

It was once suggested to me that the future of the worlddepended more upon the supply of wheat than thenuclear bomb. I can’t remember the precise figures butseem to recall that anything less than an amount ofwheat capable of feeding the world for a week was

potentially calamitous. Disease is of course a principalconstraint and it is not surprising that many a plantpathologist has built their career on diseases of wheatand other major cereal crops.

The legumes, as the authors of this fine volume pointout, are second only in human importance to the grasses:an estimated 700 million people rely on pulses, whilsttropical forage crops are dominated by legumes. There isno escaping the pervasive reliance on legumes in foodand animal production, particularly by poor people. (Aninteresting side note is that woody legume trees are usedin agroforestry systems around the world and muchvalued.) It is therefore slightly unsettling to note that thescience of legume diseases is of relatively recent origin.Can it be that plant pathologists are guilty of ignoringthem?

This would seem a harsh judgement and this book is,after all, an encouraging affirmation that times havechanged. This detailedand up-to-date account is a salutaryreminder of the good progress made by legume patho-logists in recent times. It is also a welcome sign of theincreasingemphasisdirected todiseasesofcrops importantto subsistence farmers in developing countries.

The book has been written for legume scientists andthey will gain most from the detailed accounts ofprincipal diseases of the main legume species. Thebook is organized in a series of chapters on mainlegume species, each containing comprehensive accountsof the principal diseases. There are already bookspublished on soybean and groundnut diseases by theAmerican Phytopathological Society but the value of thisvolume is that it juxtaposes information on key legumesfrom around the world.

The world may be shrinking as international travelbecomes easier and cheaper, but scientists remainrelatively separate within the Bruntland-designatedregions of ‘developed’ North and ‘developing’ South.Any book that attempts to build bridges between the twois to be applauded: there are not enough around. Wecannot understand the complexity and diversity of plantpathogens and their diseases until we know more aboutwhat happens in developing countries.

This book goes further than providing a comprehen-sive overview of legumes diseases for it does indeed offeran ‘insight to principles applicable to related cropplants’. Again, three cheers for this broader outlook. Iwould go one step further and suggest that we need abook on legume crop health that could integrate insectpests and pathogens. This might strain the limitedfinancial and human resource budgets available toauthors and editors (already burning the midnight oil),but integrated pest and crop management practicessuggest that integrated books should be there to supportthem.

Indexes continue to be a weak aspect of many booksand here we have a rather uninspired if still usefulexample. The tradition of routinely quoting authoritieslingers on and the text is peppered, sometimes distract-ingly so, with names that have little or no interest to the

Book reviews168

Q 2000 BSPP Plant Pathology (2000) 49, 165–169

majority of readers. My taxonomist colleagues appearfor once to be taking a much more pragmatic view: useauthorities for nomenclatural novelties or where there isa genuine doubt over the preferred name for anorganism.

The book contains a series of rather small colourplates. The captions are printed in a block, sometimestaking up to a third of the page. An improved layoutwould have increased the space available for eachillustration. At £95, I would regard this as an expensivebook and unlikely to be a personal purchase. However,you should ensure that your library gets a copytomorrow: sustainable development depends upon it!

E. Boa

Plant–Microbe Interactions and Biological Controledited by G. J. Boland and L. D. Kuykendall (ed.).15.5 ×23 cm, xii + 442 pp. New York, USA: MarcelDekker Inc., 1998. US$165.00. ISBN 0-8247-0043-0(hardback).

This is a substantial, detailed and comprehensive bookon aspects of biological control, some of which are notusually covered in plant pathology texts. There are 19chapters, which are grouped to together in themes suchthat the first two chapters cover aspects of biologicalcontrol of root diseases, the third chapter looks at thecontrol of pathogens that survive as sclerotia, andchapters four and five deal with aspects of foliarpathogens. Some chapters cover individual species, e.g.chapter six is concerned with the use of Trichodermaviride as a control agent whilst chapter seven is on thecontrol of Sclerotinia diseases. The control of posthar-vest diseases of different crops, including potatoes, iscovered in the next three chapters. Chapters 11 and 12are concerned with the control of weeds whilst the nextis on control of plant viruses. The remaining six chaptersfocus more strongly on techniques including molecularbiological methods, liquid culture and a consideration ofthe genetics of biological control. Thus the whole bookforms an up-to-date review of these aspects of biologicalcontrol.

The most impressive feature of the book is the depthand wealth of detail in each chapter, and the longreference list following each chapter. In these aspects it isindeed, as the blurb claims, a reference text and as suchwill be valued by anyone working on biological control.As you read through the book various recurring themesemerge. One theme is that much study of biologicalcontrol has been with ’recalcitrant’ diseases, i.e. thosethat have not been easily controlled by conventionalmethods. Another complementary theme is that thestudy of biological control is frequently spurred on bypressure from environmentalists and consumers toreduce the use of conventional pesticides. However, the

point is also made that biological control methods needto be as rigorously tested as conventional productsbefore they are released onto the market. Severalchapters emphasize the highly complex nature of thebiological control process, particularly where severalorganisms act together to achieve control, when a singlespecies is unsuccessful. The danger of treating thebiological agent ’just as if it were another chemical’also features in more than one chapter, and linked to thisis the danger of consumers expecting to use thebiological agent as if it were a chemical.

The other major theme to emerge is that of ’potential’.The last two sentences of chapter seven read: ’Researchon biological control has faced, and will continue toface, substantial challenges; however, with continuedresolve, we remain optimistic that the progressiveaccumulation of knowledge surrounding plantmicrobe-microbe interactions will result, for selected pathosys-tems, in the successful development of biological controlstrategies. It is our expectation that at least one of thesesuccessful strategies will be targeted on the control of aSclerotinia species’. Likewise, chapter eight says ’In spiteof the considerable efforts invested in research we stillare not using a commercial biological pesticide for thecontrol of post harvest diseases’. One of the chapters(11) on control of weeds states ’Much needs to belearned in utilising microbials in agriculture since solittle is known there are enormous potentials forincreasing crop production if more is known’. So,whilst there are still very few commercially availablebiological controls compared with chemical compoundsthe potential is there. Thus this book becomes a clarioncall for more research. Almost every chapter throws upnew ideas, and many more ’man years’ of research to bedone.

This book is well produced with virtually no mistakesand, as noted above, the references at the end of eachchapter are excellent. It certainly is a good text forpostgraduate students and for all those working onbiological control with microbes. However, I have twosmall criticisms in relation to the claim that it is a’reference’ text. First, the index is short when comparedwith the overall length and content of the book. Iappreciate that producing an index for a book of this sizeand nature is difficult, but the relatively short length ofthe index will limit its use as a reference text. The othercriticism is that although the range of topics covered iswide, the choice of topic is apparently idiosyncratic,possibly reflecting participants at a conference ratherthan the full range of biological control topics.

However, on balance I would highly recommendPlantMicrobe Interactions and Biological Control forthose with a professional interest in biological controland for libraries of higher education institutions whereplant pathology is taught at any level.

Avice Hall

Book reviews 169

Q 2000 BSPP Plant Pathology (2000) 49, 165–169